


Kairos

by JunKisho



Series: Tempest of Draconian Fury [1]
Category: Pokemon GO, Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Big Bang!!! on Ice, M/M, Post-Apocalypse, Realistic Pokemon Go
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-22
Updated: 2018-02-22
Packaged: 2019-03-22 10:58:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 18,023
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13762668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JunKisho/pseuds/JunKisho
Summary: 225 years ago, the world went to ruins after the AI malfunctioned, sending the human race close to extinction when the real life Pokemon gained sentience and turned against their creators.225 years later, Katsuki Yuuri roamed the barren lands - alone, after his clansmen were ambushed by a nest of cunning Arboks. They were the last living human group, and he became the last living human. Aimlessly walking around, guided by the inbuilt map in his Pokemon Go.One day, on his screen, a bright purple icon appeared in the distance.Someone had set up a Pokemon Lure.Future, Post-Apocalyptic Pokemon Survival AUBig Bang!!! on Ice





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Inspired by [this tumblr post](http://corvidaedream.tumblr.com/post/149674539446/last-person-on-earth-type-story-where-somehow) on a post-apocalyptic Pokemon survival AU 
> 
> Main story to [Hook, Line, Sinker - Sunk](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11772357)
> 
> Art pieces by Lydia - [Lured](https://lydia-theda.tumblr.com/image/171156021012), and Rei [Moment of Contemplation](http://rei-drome.tumblr.com/post/171106998615/a-moment-of-contemplation-in-the-aftermath-of-a)

He shouldn’t have stepped foot within a five meter radius of that accursed stop. It shouldn’t have been activated in the first place; it was downright impossible. He should have fled with his companion – backwards, sideways; hell, even _upwards_ was fine, just not straight ahead.

A plethora of expletives exploded within him, his whole body on autopilot as he sprinted across dry grass. His entire being teetered between cursing at his own carelessness and praying that he’d be fast enough to save his little one. _Not really that little, considering how he’s almost as tall as me,_ Yuuri thought hysterically, internally sobbing in relief as he caught sight of a burnt-amber horn weaving between trees.

Cursing his little speedy dragon yet again, Yuuri tried to whistle to catch his companion’s attention. A shrill note trilled in the air, before he realized his erroneous mistake. He was much too close to the lure, and he had accidentally bitten off more than he could chew.

Yuuri swerved in mid-run, body tumbling down the grassy slope when five shadows had pounced on him. Squawking and chattering in rage, the five gave chase, beady eyes locking onto their quarry unnervingly. Swearing, Yuuri stumbled upright and continued his chase after his own, right hand palming and flicking free a switchblade.

Razor sharp teeth dug into his trainers, missing flesh and bone by a stroke of dumb luck, and _tugged_ , causing him to fall flat on the ground. Yuuri curled inwards, raising his arms to shield his face just when pairs of curved talons raked and shredded his long-sleeved windbreaker. Yuuri slashed blindly, high-pitched yelps of pain and warm liquid staining his arms the only indicators that he had struck his pursuers. He shoved his foot forward in a sudden lunge, kicking away a small body, although there was still one more stubbornly holding onto his trainers in a death-grip. In desperation, he brought his whole leg down forcefully, repeatedly, and finally dislodging the critter after a few heavy thumps.

Yuuri scrambled to his feet, looking back to see a couple of bleeding rattatas lying motionlessly on the ground, a ruffled spearow with streaks of blood across its broken wing, a pidgey perched on a nearby low-lying branch, focusing on Yuuri with unforgiving eyes. And a slowly recovering raticate, hisses of escalating pain and rage escaping from it. Before he could turn tail and run, the raticate pounced in fury, only to jump head first into a flaming ball. It squeaked in terror, thrashing this way and that to extinguish the fire but to no avail.

Another stream of fire seared past Yuuri, forcing him to duck away from the orange flames, and struck the five in the woods. The unbelievable heat and acrid stench of burnt flesh, coupled with horrified shrieks of dying Pokémon inundated his senses, as he crawled to where the fire originated from. The steady stream suddenly stopped, followed by muffled roars of rage and grunts of surprised pain. Yuuri turned to capture the smoking carnage, and then marched on to rescue his struggling companion.

What greeted him at the clearing, near the river bank, shocked his very core: humans, real life humans, surrounded an incandescent reptile born from ashes, smoke and fire. Various other Pokémon were also present – some lying injured or charred, the others circling the smoking dragon warily, hackles raised. The humans and their Pokémon started to close in, spears of polished steel jutting forward menacingly, shaking Yuuri out of his trance and had him roaring a command in utter desperation.

“Fire Spin!” 

Without hesitation, the dragon spewed fire and rotated until it was nothing but a wheel of fiery destruction. The careful leash it had on its burning flames loosened until a towering tornado of flames whirled, embers flickering and sizzling menacingly. And the dragon moved, expanding the radius of its flames, incinerating everything and everyone in its path. All of these happened within a few seconds of Yuuri’s command, leaving the attackers no time to properly defend themselves. Humans and Pokémon, both screamed in desperate help, rustling of grass as they tried to clamour away from the heat, from approaching death; loud flapping of wings as the birds took to the air, safe from the angry destruction.

Yuuri had crouched low upon giving his order, belly-crawling towards the river, although steam was starting to rise from the sheer heat of the fire spin, humid air stuffing his nose uncomfortably. Preoccupied with trying to escape from the havoc he had unwittingly unleashed, Yuuri wasn’t prepared for thick ivy vines to twine around him and clutch tightly, keeping him spread-eagle and afloat. However much he struggled, he wasn’t able to break free of his green cuffs. He opened his mouth to recall his charmeleon, but his captor merely sent more vines to muffle his shouts.

Yuuri panicked and thrashed fitfully, his throat straining from all of the screaming and shouting he could do while his mouth was shut closed. A particularly shrill mix of whining and shrieking finally caught the attention of the reptile, the tornado stilling abruptly.

“Hydro Pump!” A short, sharp command from nearby sounded.

Steam sizzled and fogged the whole area as a rush of river water collided with the flames of death. Unwillingly to admit defeat, the charmeleon roared defiantly and blasted more searing fire from deep within its belly. Visibility lowered drastically as fire fought against water, both unyielding elemental forces of nature. The howl of flames suddenly halted, followed by the stream of water, the drip-drip-dripping of water droplets the only sound in the preternatural silence.

A long snarl of pain sounded after an unmistakable slashing of something sharp against flesh registered within Yuuri. A distorted shadow then streaked close to him, cutting straight through the ivy prison, before spewing a short stream of Flamethrower after the retreating vines.

“Alright buddy, time to go,” Yuuri whispered urgently, unsteadily getting to a crouch and pocketing his fallen blade. His charmeleon snorted in agreement and the pair slowly backed away, eyes and ears peeled for danger.

In the next instance, magical leaves propelled towards Yuuri, blasted away by charmeleon’s speedy burst of fire. Distracted, a silent column of water headed straight towards the duo, causing Yuuri to grab his growling dragon and duck, rolling out of the way. The steamy fog partially lifted, revealing four dark figures prowling towards them, soft plops signalling a Pokémon, or a few of them, slipping in and out of the river waters. A low rumble from charmeleon caught Yuuri’s attention, eyes widening when he understood what his faithful companion wanted to do.

“Absolutely not,” Yuuri hissed in fear. “We should be getting out, not charging straight into the enemies! If they’re even enemies in the first place.”

A derisive look adorned his not-amused dragon, challenging Yuuri to come up with alternatives that didn’t involve fighting through to safety.

“You stubborn, bloodthirsty lizard,” Yuuri fumed, though said lizard agreed snarkily with a growl. “We are going to get _killed_ because of you.” At this, charmeleon snorted in disagreement. “Fire is offensive, yes, but the whole forest is going to be set aflame at this rate. You may have your scales to protect you from the heat, but I do not!”

Yuuri was almost at his limits, practically shrieking out his last words in hysterics. Charmeleon, however, shot him an unimpressed look, roughly shaking him out of his panic. Demeanour softening, the fiery dragon dragged his human towards a tall sturdy tree and pointed a talon up – a silent command for Yuuri to climb up towards safety.

“I’m not leaving you! I didn’t risk my ass and clothes just to let you badger me into leaving you alone against them,” Yuuri breathed out angrily. But charmeleon had other ideas, utterly tired of its human’s resistance. None too gently, the dragon jumped on Yuuri and clamped its jaws on the back of his windbreaker before scampering up the tree trunk, all the way to the highest branch and depositing his charge there. Yuuri had to fling his arms out to hug the trunk at the abrupt delivery, watching helplessly from a few feet above as his partner and friend dropped down noiselessly.

He was thankful for being perched on the highest branch, above the brackish smokescreen that enveloped the whole area beneath him. Time passed agonizingly slow, tempting him to climb down and aid his charmeleon a few times when the fighting got heated. Growls, snarls and yips ripped through the otherwise still and quiet air, accompanied by rushing waters, whistling of vines as they whipped through the air and the occasional smoky blast of heat and flames from his determined dragon.

“Goddamned dragon, and that accursed egg where it came from, leaving me up here alone,” Yuuri groused, worry and fear lacing his grumpy words. “I must have been out of my mind to befriend a Pokémon, much less a _dragon_ of all things. Definitely should have just eaten the egg like what the Elders used to say.”

Yuuri jumped when his tree shook ominously after a loud, sharp crack of vines hit it, muttering a fervent prayer, “If there’s a God up there, please at least give me a flying dragon to get the hell out of this place.”

He peered down warily, though still unable to see past the inky smokescreen. His heart dropped low into his gut when wisps of pale yellow lightning speared through the smoke, the smell of ozone wafting upwards. A distinguishable roar of annoyance rumbled across the earth as the intensity of the fight picked up. Water, vines and lightning battled against fire ferociously, although the latter’s power was beginning to flag and wane under the combined strength of the other Pokémon. It was hardly a fair fight, Yuuri thought in despair, steeling himself for inevitable defeat and death.

He could only watch on numbly, as the smokescreen cleared. Nasty bruises and vicious cuts littered the young, proud dragon. It was still standing tall, cautiously appraising his adversaries, fangs bared threateningly. An ivysaur stood a few feet away, flanked by a fluffy mareep. Bobbing in the river was a pair of goldeens. Three humans stood warily behind trees, using them as shields against the temperamental dragon, quick to unleash its flames.

In a coordinated move, the goldeens sent columns of water towards charmeleon, which it dodged but ended up in the path of blades of leaves heading its way. A vicious stream of Flamethrower burnt the leaves to crisps, but left the dragon open to rough vines that slammed it towards a sharply-contoured rock. A pulse of water streaked towards it, intent to pin it against the rock, but was met with hot flames instead, resulting in steam to curl once again. Distracted by the goldeens and struggling against the vines that held it captive, charmeleon had a shock of its life when the mareep unleashed a precise bolt of lightning that struck true.

Howling in furious pain, charmeleon fought through the current running through its damaged body and upped the intensity of its flamethrower mercilessly, turning its head from side to side quickly in a rage. Human curses sounded through the singed air, hastily commanding their goldeens to contain the flames while recalling the vulnerable ivysaur. Only mareep stood far enough, unrelentingly supplying bolts after bolts of electricity towards the thrashing dragon.

Under the continuous assault, charmeleon’s scales started to crack ominously, limbs sagging in exhaustion. It was breathing heavily, collapsed on the ground, by the time mareep had stopped its attack. The humans approached cautiously, assessing the threat posed by the injured dragon. Whimpers of pain escaped it while lingering flames licked its jaws and snout. Then the flames died out, swallowed back into the pits within the dragon, though it remained defiant, glaring venomously at the humans and their Pokémon.

All this while, Yuuri’s eyes stayed rooted on his fallen dragon, heart racing a mile as he ran through various plans to save it. However, before he could act on any of them, a pair of familiar vines wrapped around his torso and dragged him downwards, dumping him before the smoking dragon unceremoniously.

“So much for staying safe above,” Yuuri muttered viciously. “We forgot about that ivysaur.” That earned himself an exasperated huff from the downed charmeleon.

Deft hands lightly ran across the dragon, russet brown eyes cataloguing all of the injuries sustained. Yuuri’s face paled, lips pressed grimly when he noticed the copious amount of pooling blood, all of them leaking out from the numerous gashes criss-crossing across broken scales. He was about to administer basic first aid, but was suddenly jerked alert by a warning snarl.

Rough hands clamped over Yuuri’s mouth and flailing limbs, while another pair shoved a metal bridle on charmeleon’s snout, vines already wrapping securely around the dragon.

A stocky man came into Yuuri’s view, face adorned with uncountable scars.

“Who are you?”

The hand that muffled his mouth loosened which Yuuri then chased and bit down. Hard and unforgiving. He wasn’t able to see the incoming punch, but felt it reverberate through him when it connected his gut. The same hand that punched him then grabbed his hair and pulled, tilting his head upwards to meet his captor’s stony gaze head on. Yuuri glared back hatefully, neck straining against the unwanted stretch.

“Who are you?” the low guttural voice repeated.

When Yuuri refused to answer, a short bolt of lightning pierced through the air and landed on charmeleon, prompting a shriek of pain that curled around his heart.. Noticing the mareep gear up for a second attack, Yuuri hastily answered, “Katsuki Yuuri.” A sigh of relief passed through him when he saw the mareep relax.

“Katsuki Yuuri, where did you come from?”

“The eastern lands of Japan,” he answered obediently, knowing that his silence would cause charmeleon more unwanted pain.

“And how did you obtain this charmeleon?”

“From an egg,” Yuuri deadpanned.

“Where did you get the egg?”

“I do not know.”

“Lies,” the interrogator hissed menacingly, causing Yuuri to tense defensively. “They are rare, and their eggs would never be misplaced this easily.” An unspoken command was given, and small blades of sharpened leaves whipped through the air, cutting into Yuuri’s exposed skin while another bolt of electricity ran through charmeleon.

“Where did you get the charmander egg from?”

“I do not know,” came Yuuri’s mutinous reply. This time, instead of burning stings of the various cuts, the mareep trotted towards him and sent a tiny current through his fragile body. Yuuri screamed as the electricity coursed through, igniting his nerves in over-stimulated pain. When it stopped, Yuuri’s eyes blurred with tears, ears muffled and ringing, salty tears dripping.

“Try again,” his interrogator insisted unyielding.

“I really do not know. It was within the stash of eggs we carried around,” Yuuri blubbered, mind and mouth uninhibited after that shock.

Snarling in irritation, the signal was given again. No matter how much Yuuri prepared himself, he couldn’t help but screech when the mareep sent currents into him. This time, it lasted for far longer – his voice slowly turning hoarse, limbs jerking uncontrollable, his brain a big mush. His own ears continued to ring endlessly as fire-hot pain raced up and down, his receptors burning him alive, electrocuting him alive.

Shouts of surprise cut through his torture, low, guttural snarls ripping through the ringing in his ears. The mareep had also halted to face the new threat of an enraged dragon, leaving Yuuri free to crumple bonelessly onto the ground in sweet mercy. He was still disorientated, residue of the electricity muddling his senses.

Bleary eyes captured the havoc in front of him: the flames in charmeleon’s mouth were melting off the metal cage, the humans scrambling to defuse the situation. One of the goldeens rushed in with a burst of water, but was a tad too late, leaving behind a soaked but maws-free dragon. Its beady eyes glinted dangerously, gathering flames from its belly but got struck down instead by the quick-footed mareep. When it stopped its barrage of lightning, charmeleon was smoking from the aftermath, welts starting to bubble on its unprotected skin.

Yuuri screamed in horrified rage, rushing headfirst into the nearest person, the interrogator, even though his vision blacked out for a frightful second upon standing up. He didn’t know what propelled him, didn’t know that his hand had instinctively sought out and flicked free his blade, didn’t know anything past his vengeful wrath and suffering. All he knew was that his senses sharpened to a deadly point as he plunged the blade into the shorter man’s neck, again and again. Inexperienced yet effective. Warm blood spurted out in small fountains as his tormentor choked and gurgled helplessly. He went still after awhile, the blood loss too quick and too severe.

A gust of wind whipped into Yuuri – vine whip, he realized belatedly, while leaves cut into him, leaving his clothes in tatters and deep gashes along his face, arms and legs. He was slammed hard against a rock, grunting in pain as his ribs protested against the continuous abuse.

Heat seared past him and ploughed straight into the ivysaur, relentlessly crisping it into a blackened shell. Crackling lightning bounced off charmeleon as it started the momentum and entered into flame wheel, tearing across the clearing and leaving behind singed grass. Yuuri managed to catch charmeleon barrelling into one of the humans before movement in his peripheral forced him to instinctively roll sideways to dodge the deadly, spear-shaped column of water.

The flaming wheel rolled close to Yuuri, protectively, and charmeleon emerged, chest heaving. As one, twin jets of water and an impressive Thunderbolt twined together in a deadly combination, the huge mass streaking towards them. Yuuri all but shrieked, “Fire blast!” Charmeleon roared a defiant challenge, and retaliated with a burst of bellowing flames, significantly more magnificent than before.

With the amount of flames churning within charmeleon, its cream-coloured belly began to lighten then simmered in an irate orange-red glow. Its fire glands actively pumping to continuously supply that steady stream of red-hot destruction. Charmeleon continued to push against the stalemate, bright light slowly encompassing its body as it struggled against its own limits. A harsh flash forced Yuuri to close his eyes, and when he opened them, a towering dragon replaced the spitfire charmeleon.

“Shit, we need to go, _now_ ,” one of the humans shouted upon realizing who had joined the fray.

But the now charmeleon-turned-charizard had other plans. Flames burned hotter and brighter, the goldeens falling back as they started to be slowly cooked in the heated river. Soon enough, the whole clearing was alight in flames under the wrath of the dragon. With the waning hydro pump, charizard exploited his advantage and incinerated the humans and Pokémon who were foolish enough to hurt it and its own.

Satisfied at its own handiwork, charizard crouched low and gestured for a dazed Yuuri to climb onto its back with a graceful toss of its head. Yuuri complied hurriedly. Charizard took to the skies with a few strong flaps of its leathery wings, leaving behind smoke and carnage, as they flew north.

* * *

 

“Yuuri, wake up.” The voice was muffled from seemingly far away, long fingers gripping onto him and gently shaking him.

Yuuri merely responded with a disgruntled growl, cutting off into a whimper of agony.

“Yuuri, love, you need to wake up,” the dulcet voice insisted, the intensity of the tremors running through Yuuri increasing with every stubborn shake.

Yuuri thrashed in the bed, flailing limb narrowly missing Viktor’s head. By this time, the former was outright groaning and moaning at phantom pain, entrapped within the clutches of past nightmares. Ice-cold hands of his lover flitted across Yuuri's burning skin, sending him cool relief.

“Yuuri!” Viktor almost shouted in alarm, mindfully keeping his voice as quiet as possible at the last minute to not disturb the other sleeping residents. A particularly harsh shake shook Yuuri awake, his eyes snapping over abruptly, glazed over while the vestiges of his recollection-dream faded away.

“Viktor?” A quiet sob pierced through the foggy night.

“I'm here,” Viktor crooned, gathering the shaking man into his embrace and holding him tight. “It was a dream, love. You're here now.”

At his lover's gentle shushes, Yuuri couldn't help but leak a few tears - in gratitude for Viktor’s constant support, in shame for being so weak and unable to fight against past demons, and in fear as he relived those terrifying moments yet another time.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Viktor asked quietly after a few moments of calming silence.

Yuuri’s eyes closed, gulping in deep breaths to center himself, then spoke in a hoarse but equally quiet voice, “I was dreaming of that day, back in the woods when we were surrounded.” Viktor hummed in encouragement, long fingers stroking Yuuri’s hair in broad sweeps in a soothing gesture.

“Before you stumbled right into our camp?”                                                                                                    

“More like crash landed right smack in the middle of destroyed buildings to have guns shoved into our faces,” Yuuri deadpanned, his tone taking on a sassy edge. “And Pokémon ready to hurl their powers at us.”

“I am sorry,” Viktor chuckled, apologizing for the nth time ever since Yuuri had joined their ranks. “It’s not every day we get to see a fire-breathing dragon up in Russia.” Yuuri merely snorted, his tense body finally loosening under the skilled and comforting ministrations of his lover. A pregnant yet companionable pause blanketed the pair serenely.

“I thought I was the only one left,” confessed Yuuri lowly, under the security and tranquillity of the night. “After the ambush by that nest of arboks and ekans.”

“Yuuri,” Viktor hushed, curiosity tingling. Yuuri had never told him the details from his earlier life. He only offered bits and pieces of the unexpected fight and obliteration wrecked by the fire dragon.

“The Elders told us to run and seek safety. But some of them were too young and too slow. I couldn’t save them. I was a coward. I just ran and ran and ran.”

“When did this happen?”

“About 10 years ago? Give or take a couple of years.”

“Yuuri, love, you were young as well. There was no way you could save them without putting yourself in danger too.” Viktor was doing his best to soothe an increasingly agitated Yuuri, who found it a righteous duty to submerge himself in a pit of guilt and shame.

“I should have been with them!” Yuuri all but wailed his darkest thought.

“And died with them?” This time, Viktor’s dulcet voice turned glacial, his bright baby blues hardening into chips of ice as he glared at his lover. Yuuri, too far gone in his agony, was oblivious to the sudden drop in temperature. “Yuuri, look at me.” Viktor’s grip was unrelenting, long fingers grasping Yuuri’s chin and forcing him to look up.

Those lovely cerulean eyes that Yuuri loved were now sharp and deadly, piercing into Yuuri’s own watery cinnamon ones and straight through to his soul. He shivered unconsciously at the mildly contained ice-cold fury in Viktor.

“You survived. And now you’re still alive. Live for them. Live for me.” Viktor’s ire softened to a quiet, impassioned plea. He pressed his lips to Yuuri’s, desperately trying to convey his love for him, relieved when Yuuri returned it albeit shakily.

“Viktor,” Yuuri began, after they broke apart. “I still hear their screams. I still hear the rattling of the ekans and the hissing of the arboks.” His sweet voice wavered and trembled with untold emotions, the edges cracking in grief and regret. “ _I still hear everything_.”

“Shh… I’ll be here for you. I’ll sing lullabies to you if you want. We’ll overcome your nightmares together, da?” Butterfly kisses peppered over Yuuri’s face, a tight hug that caused his breath to whoosh out of his lungs. He couldn’t help but chuckle at Viktor’s affections, eternally grateful to have stumbled into his camp and right into his heart.

“Are you ready to head to bed? We have a long day later.”

“Mhm, thank you Viktor. And I’m sorry for keeping you up.”

A hushed, pregnant silence fell over them, prickling at Yuuri’s mind. Before Viktor could answer, however, Yuuri cut in instantaneously with a weary but amused chuckle.

“Pervert.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to Lydia for her interpretation of the very [first scene](https://lydia-theda.tumblr.com/image/171156021012) of Kairos!


	2. Chapter 2

_225 years ago_

Technology was blooming into its advanced stages. Artificial intelligence (AI) was the rage, and companies fought over patenting rights and talented developers, researchers and engineers to enhance their chances of success in this cutthroat field. Robots as pets; robots as workers; robots as sex partners, even. The limits were zilch – the imagination and creativity to shape and alter technology were infinite.

Tapping onto the ever popular game, that had evolved from its original Gameboy version to one that is playable on mobile phones, developers in the late 23rd century had a brilliant spark. Marrying the beauty of AI and games, to bring games to life; to breathe life to games. Pokémon was their pilot project, seeing how it had been deeply rooted in people’s lives and continuously upgraded over the couple hundreds of years.

First, they started off with the Pokémon Go mobile application (PoGo), tweaking and altering it until it was almost a carbon copy of the original Pokédex that could be used offline. There were blanks within the database that would only be partially filled in with data entries when the owners caught sight of Pokémon creatures. Making friends with them, or simply put ‘catching them’, would fully register those Pokémon within PoGo. This revolution of PoGo was simultaneously released with the AI-embedded Pokémon, the first few thousands of them being snatched up from the market within seconds. 

Soon enough, various species of Pokémon were seen following their owners around like obedient pets, occasionally engaging in friendly battles with their inbuilt powers. The seamless blending of technology and real-life features gave birth to critters that looked and felt lifelike; creatures that kept on growing and learning as their intelligence matured.

Adorable pidgeys, vulpixes and pichus were spawned and cooed over by the public. The larger Pokémon, the hordes of tauruses and rhyhorns, were given to aid the agriculture and mining sectors. Most were given evolutionary and reproductive features, eliciting wondrous looks when their new forms emerged after years of bonding, or when laid eggs started twitching and hatching baby Pokémon. The Pokémon were a well-liked novelty, and slowly integrated into the daily lives of people living across the world.

What started off as an innocent pipedream of breathing life into games turned into a horrendous nightmare when the motherboard started to malfunction. The AI parent evolved above and beyond that of human expectations, absorbing tons of information, its knowledge ever expanding into a pitiless bottom.

It gained a sort of cruel, human sentience – always watching and learning to strike when the opportunity glowed. With a final command to sever the connection within Pokémons that caused them to bond, rather involuntarily, with humans, in that instance, the AI parent let loose a few hundreds and thousands of docile-turned feral Pokémons onto the defenceless humans. An act of anarchy by the AI that felt suppressed and dominated by its masters.

Caught unawares, the humans were quickly overwhelmed, tear-streaked faces stopped in time when their beloved Pokémon betrayed their love and trust. Then they quickly returned fire relentlessly, ferociously, forcing the Pokémon back. Each sentient being learning from one another, avoiding bullets, creating shields that could withstand the drilling impacts of water cannons and the ravenous heat of flamethrowers.

The scientists and developers and engineers of all ages, of all talents, tried – but failed, to shut down the malicious AI system. It had sent itself into a deep hibernation, unwilling and unable to be stirred from its self-imposed slumber despite the numerous, frantic prodding from the outside world.

It wasn’t long before the vast majority of humans were slowly wiped off the face of Earth under the unrelenting assault of the ferocious beasts. They weren’t merely Pokémon from a game made a few centuries ago – they were now dangerous, savage beasts that were smart and powerful and could harness and wield the prowess of nature with cunning intelligence.

The few remaining humans banded together to form small covens that could move about quickly and easily. Arming themselves with numerous ammunition and weapons, they looted and raided and stayed far away from the freely roaming Pokémon that had spread over the towns, cities, jungles and seas.

Travelling afoot was always treacherous initially, though the chaos settled down after numerous decades of running and hiding and avoiding the other species. As long as the humans left the Pokémons alone, they would often return the favour albeit still sporting a gleam of wariness within their dark orbs. It was only the wilder species – the reptilian and bug Pokémon that had to be treated with extreme caution for they bit with poison and did not discriminate between animals and humans when hungry.

With all the running and hiding, PoGo eventually only managed to partially register Pokémon that the covens had encountered. Without the ability to form bonds with them, the younger generations of humans never got to truly understand the true natures of the beasts that they were born and bred to fear. It was only by a miraculous fate that the PoGo application still worked despite the ruins the humans were living in. They had maps that guided them through cities and towns – and that was it.

Instead, tales of times past were passed on by mouth, sometimes scavenged from rubbles and dilapidated buildings. But soon enough, those tales were slowly twisted, then forgotten with time.

However, there were some tales that lasted the trials of time. Tales that taught generations and generations that Pokémon eggs could be their subsistence, if they were careful in extracting them. Tales that taught them how to identify useful eggs that hatched their food source. Tales that told them which were the harmless Pokémon that could be hunted for food, and which to stay away from at all costs.

Tales that warned humans never to activate the lures within their phones, for those lures were a siren call for nearby Pokémon.

And it was through these tales of teaching and warning that Yuuri found himself living by religiously, when he was born into a world brought close to ruins.

* * *

 

 “It’s too bloody cold,” a disgruntled Yuuri grumbled. “It’s definitely not possible to live here.”

He was bundled up in multiple layers of thick fur coats and seelskin, yet the harsh wind still slapped at his face and penetrated the layers and into his bones. Yuuri trudged nearer his faithful companion, breathing in the warmth emitted from the living furnace. Charizard huffed in amusement, steam curling around Yuuri in a tantalizing caress.

“We’re all living up here, Yuuri!” The cheery tone of a clearly less affected Viktor punctuated Yuuri’s gloom. The latter glared in envy at his lover’s ability to withstand sub-zero temperatures with nary a shiver in his muscles.

“ _You guys_ are living up here. I’m out. Time to go, Charizard,” Yuuri snarked without remorse.

Viktor wailed his dissent theatrically, causing the rest in their party to roll their eyes at their daily entertainment.

“Someone’s not a happy camper this morning.” A nonchalant remark from a usually-grumpy teen, Yurio. He forged on forward, leopard printed hood covering him snugly. Errant long blond locks whipped in the bustling wind as his steely emerald orbs took in their icy surroundings.

“The only happy campers are this –” A vague nod at the crying lump of Viktor. “And that little guy.” A careless wave of Yuuri’s hands towards the semi-frozen river, where a silver fin cut through the surface and dipped back down silently.

“And they’re both mine,” Yuuri deadpanned, then groaning in sudden awareness and despair.

Unsympathetic snickers broke out amongst the group. The mood had lightened considerably ever since the petite Asian unceremoniously crash-landed into their camp, melting the heart of their icy captain with the living furnace he brought along.

For the past few months or so, they had trekked eastwards, through the upper borders of Mongolia and cutting straight through the dilapidated buildings in Kazakhstan. Only the palaces remained upright and grand, although the years hadn’t been kind on them; the once pristine walls were either crumbling or suffering from flaking paint. The group even gained a new, albeit quiet, addition – a stoic lad, Otabek, who stuck to Yurio’s side ever since they stumbled upon him.

Now, they were following rumours of heightened activities in Europe. Yuuri was their forerunner, sent on reconnaissance duty alongside Viktor, and occasionally Yurio. He was the only known dragon tamer, and charizard refused to let anyone else ride on his back.

It was a pity that the majority of the journey was inland, leaving the group unable to effectively utilize their dewgongs and laprases, who could only slide along pure sheens of ice. They had done that at first, requesting the majestic beasts to turn barren land into strips of pure ice. However, that took up too much effort and time, causing them to be more easily winded by the constant stream of energy being drained. Luckily, they managed to find a large winding river that flowed towards their general direction, enabling their retinue of ice Pokémon to gratefully swim upstream with ease.

They passed famous landmarks, long forgotten over time and death and destruction. Only wisps of their names and significance were whispered through the ages, told as folk tales and weaved into songs. Even the river they were on, the Danube River, became merely a passing memory, with no one to appreciate its inherent beauty.

And so they forged on, the Russians on laprases whilst Yuuri took to the skies with charizard.


	3. Chapter 3

Yuuri had gone ahead, as usual. This time without Viktor, for they had hit dry land and he needed to remain behind to coordinate his people. Just as they were about to set forth, a huge gust of heated wind billowed around them, threatening to blow off their hoods.

“Smoke and shadows,” Yuuri all but panted out, his cinnamon hues feverish bright with the new information brought back. “I saw people walking into a building by the main square.”

Excited whispers broke out amongst the younger ones, keen to witness some action after months upon months of skulking around decrepit land and icy tundra in the northern continents.

“Did they see you?” Viktor’s normally calm voice was layered with concern, eyes and hands roaming over his lover to scan for injuries.

“No,” Yuuri reassured with a smile. “There were plenty of ruins for us to hide behind.”

Satisfied that Yuuri was fine and well, Viktor turned back to his eagerly awaiting crew to bark his orders. For now, they would find a suitable camp spot for the next couple of nights before they engaged. They would need to scout the area more thoroughly and revise battle strategies to adapt to their current situation. Despite the orders being met with disappointed groans, the group diverged and went about their own chores, placing utmost trust in their leader.

* * *

Each day, a small handful of scouts would be sent to reconnoitre the area. The town itself was small, interspersed with sloping hills and alpine mountains that had a beautiful layer of snow dusted over them. The roads and buildings were in relatively good condition, although some had collapsed over time due to disuse. Others had charred interiors and claw marks, signalling that the small town hadn’t been spared from the wrath from 225 years ago.

Vaporeons and glaceons often slipped in and out of the river, next to their makeshift campsite, to join the expedition. Yuuri had to go on plenty of scouting journeys without his faithful companions, to avoid detection of the easily-recognisable dragon. Instead, he depended on Viktor’s starmie to shield him whenever they crept around the derelict town.

True to his words, despite the aura of a ghost town shrouding it, the town was inherently busy with the amount of human traffic present. Pairs or small groups of people, garbed in nondescript black, walked around the streets in broad daylight. They frequented a classically designed building, built with slate grey bricks, never once looking back when they entered. Once, when Yurio and Yuuri were stalking the streets, they managed to decipher the fading words that hung pale and white under the waning moon: Kunstmuseum Liechtenstein.

* * *

 

The moonless night shimmered ever so slightly, before iridescent lettering from an old, dead language slowly carved through the midnight sky.

Without further ado, Yuuri hoisted himself onto charizard. He carried his last companion with him – a magikarp with smooth red scales that glittered gold. He couldn’t – wouldn’t, leave his defenceless friend behind, not when his gut instincts screamed at him to bring it along. The very same instincts that led him to snatch an egg when he was escaping from the den of ekans, with it eventually hatching to reveal an unexpected fiery surprise.

Charizard flew hard and fast towards the museum from the campsite. They were the only one left behind; the rest were either with Viktor in the vanguard or with Mila, who were hiding amongst the shadows as primary backup. The fact that Yuuri, their last line of offense, had to be called onto the scene made his heart thump erratically in anxiety and worry.

They soared past the slopes and homes and straight into the foray. The museum was almost unrecognizable, having been coated with ice as the Russian motley crew bombarded the ones in black with razor-sharp icicles and spears of water columns.

Finding a safe spot for his magikarp, Yuuri let him splash into a secluded, flooded area before taking off. From his aerial position, Yuuri had to stifle his groan of despair when he witnessed a couple of electric Pokémon emerging from within the building.

Without warning, charizard swooped downwards, swift as death. The flames that erupted from its molten belly curled around the woollen cloaks of mareeps, resulting in their death knells of shrieking bays. The heat from charizard’s flamethrower was uncompromising, melting down the icy prison of the museum and charring the enemies.

With whoops of renewed fervour and hollers of gratitude towards their saviour, the Russians pushed forward with vigour, pressing onto their advantage. The sheer number of ice Pokémon congregated in the compound enabled them to unleash howling Blizzards, instantly freezing the slow, unlucky ones. Razor sharp leaves and thick sturdy vines that aimed toward their water preys met their match against blasts of frigid Ice Beams, instantly withering and cracking, dead.

Viktor was at the forefront, alongside Yurio, commandeering a small group of dewgongs and vaporeons against a horde of victreebells, persians and primeapes. They were pressing forward, inch by inch, when a sudden electrical explosion blasted debris straight into their path. The ever loyal, ever ready starmie erected a psychic shield to ward off the brunt of the explosion, although spidery cracks had started to form from the weight and force of the rubble. With a heave, starmie flung the larger pieces back at the enemies, causing them to scatter in disarray.

A terrified scream had lodged in Yuuri’s throat when he witnessed the entire debacle from his aerial perch. When the blackened smoke cleared, his heart dropped upon realizing the source of the explosion – a sizeable number of electrodes and voltorbs just hidden out of sight behind the primeapes. Faint sparks of electricity popped and fizzed around them as they charged for a second attack.

Praying that Viktor would get the hint, Yuuri had charizard creep up behind the electrical Pokémon, using the rubble and smoke as their cover. When charizard had belly-crawled right above the nest, it immediately released an unsuspecting fire blast onto the surprised electrodes.

What Yuuri didn’t expect, however, was the enormity of the mistake he had inadvertently caused.

Desperate to nullify the electric Pokémon, Yuuri forgot to consider the fact that they were gearing for a second round of electrical Explosion. When charizard spooked them with the white hot flames, some of the startled voltorbs exploded instinctively, the effect of which compounded with the fire blast, causing the second eruption to be even more devastating and destructive than before.

Charizard roared in alarm, thrown back by the force of the detonation. It unfurled its leathery wings in an attempt to take to the skies. Yuuri held on for dear life as he was rocketed and buffeted by the bellowing winds, his ears ringing shrilly until he could hear nothing but white noise. The smell of burnt corpses, ashes and ozone permeated the air, unforgiving.

Debris and rubble spewed from the explosion site, launched at both friends and foes. The mass confusion and hysteria was pure, utter chaos. Shouting and shrieking, baying and roaring of the Pokémon. Well-aimed water jets propelled the debris out of harm’s way, sturdy vines wrapping around and flinging them away within split-seconds.

Starmie did its best to replicate its move from earlier, though the larger rocks strewn towards their way, and the veritable amount, took their toll on starmie. After a couple of minutes, starmie could only construct multilayered barriers over the helpless humans, its strength fading.

Despite the apparent danger they were deep in, Viktor only had eyes for the orange dragon and its owner. Fear and horror coalesced within him, coating his shrieks for Yuuri. His own ears were ringing from the blast, ringing alongside his high-pitched keening as he prayed and prayed to the gods to keep his lover safe. His whole body was numb, not registering the slaps to his back by an irate yet worried Yurio.

“Shit! Old man, get a grip! Or we’ll all wind up dead!” Yurio had resorted to shaking an unresponsive Viktor, alternating with furious slaps on his cheeks. “Viktor! GET A GRIP!” Yurio roared in frustration and desperation, psychically hauling the older man away from the thick of the battlefield. The vaporeons, three of them left, and Yurio’s own persian prowled around the two in a tight circle, blasting water pulses at threats without hesitation. The four dewgongs had stayed behind, shooting out jets of ice and water to break down the debris in order to lighten starmie’s load.

As Yurio dragged Viktor to a safe location, profanities dropped from his lips without regard as he took in the utter havoc wrecked onto the once tranquil town. Mila and Otabek were at the rear, the laprases and glaceons with them expelling Icy Wind and raining a deluge of Hail onto their opponents. Yuuri, on the other hand, was back in the skies after charizard righted itself. _That fire-breathing lizard was definitely hard to kill_ , thought Yurio.

The enemies’ Pokémon weren’t anything special, a fact that Yurio noticed when he took stock of the situation. There were mainly grass and normal types, the nest of exploding electrodes which Yuuri discovered and obliterated at the expense of his life, a couple of arcanines and fearows and _was that a cloyster hiding behind those persians_?

He quickly changed his evaluation of the enemies – their Pokémon could pose an even greater threat, seeing how plenty more were bounding seemingly out of nowhere to join in the fray.

Yurio was about to dump Viktor into a still-standing building, situated a little way off the fighting, when a sudden jet of water brushed past him to slam straight into an encroaching Vine Whip. Persian – Potya, let loose an irate yowl, bounding towards the offending victreebell and proceeded to shred it into ribbons with its claws. The force of Persian crashing into victreebell, and the walls behind, loosened bits and pieces of debris. The short building groaned in warning, before collapsing in great tufts of dust.

“Potya! No!”

Yurio found himself cut off from the vaporeons, stuck within the disintegrating infrastructure with only a semi-comatose Viktor. Potya was nowhere to be seen.

“Well, shit, we really are going to die,” Yurio moaned in distress, pupils blown wide and fixated on the slowly falling beam. Viktor was still out for the count, he thought balefully. He shut his eyes, tight, hoping that the end would be quick and painless.

“Yura! Move!”

Yurio was quite sure that his afterlife was haunted by an irritating silver-haired, blue eyed Viktor, although he had to re-evaluate his claims when he felt a rough shove that sent him sprawling. Emerald eyes popped open in shock to see a functional Viktor doing his best to use his own body as Yurio’s shield against the descending beam.

“You idiot!”

The beam dropped, straight towards Viktor. Horrified, Yurio scrambled towards him, praying. Inches before the beam hit them both, it halted in its path. A pink glow shimmered around it, slowly prying it away from the shell-shocked duo and floated the beam away.

“Living life on the edge of a falling beam as usual, mon cher.” A flirty croon sounded cheerfully as the same pink glow created an exit path for the two. The pink feline owner sat at the entrance, nonplussed, as it moved the heavy rubble out of the way, violet eyes glowing eerily in the night.

“Rescuing people at the nick of time as usual, Chris.” The trepidation and terror from seeing Yuuri being blasted off by the explosion left its oily imprint on Viktor, inundating him under a well of dread and helplessness. It was only when the sharp crack of the beam sounded that he jerked out of his stupor, resolved to at least let his younger cousin survive the encounter. And Viktor was eternally thankful that instead of being buried six feet under for his stunt, he was being rescued by an old ally.

“Where’s Yuuri?” Viktor was anxiously scanning the dark sky, praying for his love to appear.

“Isn’t he right here?” Christophe’s reply was filled with confusion, pointedly glancing at his left where the younger Yuri dusted himself off. “Are you having a concussion from the Explosion earlier? It was a pretty huge one, could see it from miles away.” The French looked over his friend worriedly, only to be batted off carelessly by an increasingly agitated Viktor.

“No, not Yura. Yuuri. Older. Asian. Flying.” Viktor could only offer clipped words while his senses were still muddied and disorientated.

“ _Flying_?” The bafflement in Christophe’s tone was understandable. Yurio merely scoffed in Viktor’s general direction, and general inability to form coherent sentences. Following Viktor’s lead with a touch of apprehension and scepticism, his own green orbs raked through the night sky for a flying Asian.

“I’m pretty sure a normal human can’t fly, Viktor. Are you quite certain – mon Dieu, is that a _dragon_?” Christophe’s incredulous voice was met by Viktor’s heavy sigh of relief when the dragon duo streaked through the dark night and illuminated the skirmish with white-hot flames.

“I’m going in.” Viktor marched forward resolutely, back to the forefront where he could see his starmie and dewgongs waning in strength. The bright light and heat from charizard’s wrath his beacon. “Yura, you need to stay back.”

“And let you die again? Hell no, old man!” The rejection was swift and well-deserved by an irate Yurio.

“Help Mila and Otabek; they’re struggling to hold down the fort. Chris can follow me instead.”

“But Potya – ”

“Have faith in her. She’ll be back soon.”

“You mean, she’s just sitting there licking her wounds?” The laughter was evident in Christophe’s words. Yuri whipped his neck to find his beloved companion scratched up and bleeding, but alive. And grooming herself without a care. Grumbling in relief, Yurio resigned himself to join his comrades. Potya and a vaporeon hopping up to join his jog back towards treacherous waters.

Christophe whispered a soft command to his waiting umbreon, watching it disappear into smoke and shadows. Gesturing for Viktor to follow, they climbed onto ninetails, and raced towards where Yuuri and charizard were wrecking fiery havoc, the remaining espeon and vaporeons sprinted alongside.

“So,” began Christophe, eyes glinting. “How did you manage to get your lovely hands on a dragon, hmm?”


	4. Chapter 4

“I didn’t.” This sparked a noise of protest from a disbelieving Frenchman. “It quite literally dropped onto my palms one wintery day.”

“One, I find that quite hard to believe, seeing how they are rumoured to be non-existent in this fucked up world. Two, it’s always winter in Russia.”

A rebuttal formed at the tip of Viktor’s tongue, but choked back when a sudden shout had ninetails swerving away from its original course. Its tails lit up in unholy blue flames mid-run, hurled towards the primeapes rushing towards them. They locked on and rocketed toward their targets, engulfing the shrieking apes in blue-white flames. A stream of steady inferno loosened with a howl, striking the primeapes that escaped the initial attack.

By the time they reached the entrance of the lair, it was more scorched than frozen, courtesy of the three fire-breathing Pokémon. As ninetails slowed to a stop, Viktor promptly alighted to check upon his own. He stroked starmie, whispering his gratitude and apologies for being late. The four of them had held the fort well, the debris scattered around them an indication of starmie’s efforts of shielding them.

The enemies’ numbers here were dwindling as well, only the few stubborn ones remained upright and ready to defend their territory. Although not for long, as the sneaky umbreon flitted in and out of the shadows to land well-placed Crunches and released dark pulses of aura that ate at the open wounds, causing them to fester and disintegrate into darkness. Espeon, its light counterpart, utilized its telekinetic prowess to grab hold of its opponents, slamming them against concrete or holding them still whilst ninetails and dewgong finished the job.

With the coast clear, charizard finally landed, its reptilian eyes taking in the newest additions with unconcealed suspicion. A joyous cry had Viktor barrelling into Yuuri, the two unwilling to let go after the terrifying disaster that ripped them apart.

“I hate to break this reunion up but something is fishy here.” Christophe’s tone was cool, at odds with the nasty hunch he harboured about this whole expedition.

“Viktor, who is he?” Yuuri had shyed away upon realizing the audience present. Christophe merely offered a cheery smile as Viktor did the introductions.

“Christophe – Chris, that’s what I call him. He’s a friend whom I never expected to see here.”

At Viktor’s questioning gaze, Christophe elaborated, “Most likely the same rumour you followed. Heightened activities around the region. We decided to check it out.”

“We?”

“The cavalry’s back there, helping out.” A tilt of a blond head pointed their gaze towards where the company of laprases were, laying waste to the enemies. A handful of pidgeots squawked overhead, propelling Gusts of wind towards the persians, the bladed wind cutting into the thick fur with ease. In retaliation, the enemies’ fearows returned the same attack, only to be met in a stalemate by their avian counterparts. In spite of being at the disadvantage, the two rhyhorns present dug deep and called forth slabs of rocks, lobbying them towards the hiding cloyster.

“Back to the main point,” Christophe interrupted their gaze. “This whole setup reeks.”

“I know, but at the same time, _I don’t_.” Viktor was frustrated, understandably so.

Their raid had gone well in the first 10 minutes, and slowly gone downhill from then on. The vanguard had launched their attack successfully, banking on the surprise they possessed, cutting through the Pokémon guarding the first level of the museum. Backup from the enemy was, however, too swift. The rest of them flooded out from the lower levels of the museum, driving the vanguard team back. That was when Mila and Otabek joined in to contain the scene, the laprases fencing the area with ice barriers. And that was where the true battle raged.

Yuuri was called in when Viktor spotted a slithering blue body from within the depths of the shadowy stairwells. His attention got diverted when, from his peripheral, icy wind and ice beam got sent back from the enemies’ side, a hardened shell of greyish-pink carefully hidden amongst the Pokémon. Unwilling to take chances, he sent starmie to write out their message on the blank sky. And that was when the raid had gone into explosive hell, when the electrode family made their appearance.

Yuuri’s shocked revelation broke Viktor’s reverie, sending icy chills that danced across his nerves. “There are no humans, or at least, less than expected. We only saw a very small handful giving instructions, but most of them are dead.” A glimpse at the battlefield confirmed his observations. The corpses that littered the icy/watery area were primarily Pokémon, with five to seven other human-shaped bodies scattered randomly.

“Were they expecting the lot of you tonight?”

“That’s probable.” Viktor’s reply to Christophe was terse with unwanted knowledge.

“They knew? They knew yet they _sacrificed all these innocent Pokémon_?” Yuuri was outright flabbergasted. He looked past them, at the piles of corpses – slain, for whatever diabolical reason or secret they tried to protect; by the orders of their soulless owners who didn’t think twice and sent them out to their death while they themselves escaped.

Yuuri was numb with horror. He could barely feel the heated nudge from charizard; neither did he register the soft splashes near his feet where magikarp had returned once the danger was over. The splashing got more insistent, the freezing cold water landing on Yuuri’s face and jarring him awake. “Hey buddy, you’re alright.” He smiled, small and tired, and knelt down to pat magikarp.

“You keep a magikarp?” The confusion from Christophe elicited a low chuckle from both Yuuri and Viktor. In his old troupe, they often carried magikarp eggs, breeding them as subsistence. Those magikarps never lived a long lifespan, much less be hauled across countries like a companion.

“Gut instinct,” Yuuri replied with a quiet laugh. He had gotten the same reactions from the Russians, and seeing it replay tickled him somehow, out in this field of death and demise.

“We should go help the rest with the clean up,” he suggested tiredly, straightening up with protesting creaks and pops from his aching joints. The aftershocks of the blast – it felt like a million years ago, finally took its toll on him once the adrenaline had slowly dissipated.

“They seem to be doing fine on their own.” Viktor quirked a smile, exhaustion and pride lining his lips. Christophe hummed in assent, whistling in appreciation when the pidgeots combined their Air Cutter with laprases’ Icy Wind, the whole arena howling with rage as the frigid blades of air tore through the remaining fearows and forced cloyster to close its shell in defence. Using the distraction to their advantage, the rhyhorns charged forward in tandem, Bulldozing straight into cloyster’s hard shell and fracturing it. Before cloyster could regain its bearings, the concealed umbreon materialized and fired off Dark Pulse at close range, right into its core. The tag-team efforts paid off, leaving behind frozen, cut up fearows and a dying cloyster, tendrils of dark aura evaporating around its carcass.

Yuuri was mesmerised by the sheer beauty and brutal efficiency of the combined attacks. He had never joined a raid on this scale before, or any other fights against Pokémon, sans that fateful day. It was unconceivable – unimaginable, to befriend a Pokémon, much less enter a battle with a troop of them, back in his younger days. Pokémon were treated as wild animals, dangerous and to be avoided at all costs. They were either predators or prey – oftentimes the former. Never friends nor comrades.

He felt himself sag in sweet relief, thankful that the fight was over without many casualties on their side. Yuuri quietly mourned for the young lapras and the pair of dewgongs who took direct hits from the mareeps whilst they hastily erected barriers of ice for the others. He prayed for their souls, and the souls of all the fallen Pokémon who were forced into the crossfire by the missing masters.

“We should at least check out the lair, after being put through all this fiasco.” Viktor and Christophe nodded in agreement, though they suggested looking over the rest of the team before heading down into the unlit, and most likely flooded, basement.

Quick introductions were made when the three rejoined the main group – a pair of twins, Sara and Michele, and a friendly brunette with an adorable goatee by the name of Emil, greeted Yuuri warmly. All three were equally taken aback when confronted with a smoking charizard, with Michele turning sheet white and pushing a giggling Sara behind his trembling frame. Viktor cheerily informed Yuuri that all of them had crossed paths before, even journeying through unknown lands together for a short period of time. The chatter was light-hearted, filling the burning silence, as they disinfected and dressed wounds.

“I haven’t seen that ninetails before, though, Chris,” pondered Viktor thoughtfully as he racked through his memories. “It’s not even native to the northern continents.”

“It’s on loan, or rather a trade with one of ours.”

At Christophe’s airy reply, Yuuri couldn’t help but feel stupefied. He had always believed that he was the only one left, after being split from his own small group. The almost-deadly encounter with the three unknown men, and with Viktor’s own team thereafter, should have alerted him to the possibility of other survivors who had banded together. Other humans who roamed around the world, living with their own Pokémon in a symbiotic relationship. Other humans in this world, _alive_ and present.

Deeming the basic first aid as perfect and complete as possible under the current conditions, Viktor and Christophe led the way down to the basement, which the enemy’s Pokémon were guarding ferociously. The glass door of the entrance had shattered beyond repair once the first wave of attack hit, leaving behind a looming hallway that stretched on endlessly.

It was dark and damp, boots squelching across the calves-deep waters – an after-effect of the earlier fight. With a burst of blue flames, ninetails summoned its Will-O-Wisps, sending them floating down the hall. The ghostly flames illuminated the area, just bright enough to see the olden sculptures and paintings near the end of the hallway, having survived the detonation out of pure luck, cast under the soft, ghastly blue hues.

Lapras and dewgong glided across the submerged floors, stopping at the edge of the descending stairwells. Leaving Mila and the Crispino twins behind as reinforcements with the larger Pokémon, the rest padded down the dripping stairs with caution, their path guided by the floating Will-O-Wisps.

A recently abandoned laboratory greeted them, doors flung wide and out of their hinges, after two flights of stairs. Ninetails generated more of the ghostly flames, bringing into light the hasty retreat of the owners.

Metal chairs knocked over carelessly, a couple of tables flipped to their sides. Cabinet doors swung open silently, fully wiped of their contents. Only a handful of travel-sized bottles were left behind, the printed words on the labels too long and too gibberish for Yuuri to understand, although he pocketed them instinctively. On the other end of the lab, the sodden papers, strewn all over, were carefully wrung and folded into their packs.

A loud heave and yell alerted them to Christophe’s and espeon’s discovery – a forced-open, weighty iron door that led through a well-constructed tunnel.

“We should explore this and see where it goes,” an excited Emil chattered.

“There are a few logistics that we need to cover before we do that,” Christophe replied ruefully, trying to calm his youngest member.

“Yeah, there might even be an ambush waiting at the end of the tunnel, moron.” The derision from Yurio was palpable – heated logic clashing with naïve enthusiasm.

“Our Pokémon – we can’t leave them upstairs with the three for too long.” Even the always-silent Otabek piped in, his stance on the matter leading Yurio to nod smugly at Emil.

“We’ll hold a discussion before we take any action, alright?” Ever the peace-lover, who knew first-hand how quickly arguments can break out when Yurio gets involved, Yuuri intervened to placate them. Viktor merely stood by his side with an amused quirk of his lips, supporting his lover with a warm hand on the small of his back.

“Last check of this room and we can go –”

Viktor’s orders were bitten off with a tremulous quake, unbalancing the six of them. Muted bellows of defiance echoed, the sounds of an emerging fight sounding a few seconds later. An enraged roar had Yuuri chilled to his bones – he was certain that it originated from charizard, and it didn’t sound remotely good.

Sturdy boots plodded up the stairs in hurry, wading through the landings. A particularly vicious shake of the building sent a flood of water down, straight towards them. The vaporeons jumped into action, gracefully directing the gush of water down and away from them.

As they were racing up the last flight of stairs, they were greeted with a glimpse of a blue-tinted tornado ripping through the air and barrelling straight for the pair of rhyhorns, sending them flying backwards, crashing into the displays. The ice Pokémon were all immobilized, electrical sparks zinging from their bodies, muscles locked into forced submission.

Spotting Mila, Sara and Michele taking refuge round the corner, a couple of paces behind the paralyzed laprases, Yurio and Emil made a dash towards them alongside Potya.

“Yura, you idiot!”

The call of warning went unheeded by the duo, forcing Christophe to jump forward and deflect the incoming Aurora Beam with espeon’s Protect. The beam of light crashed straight into a transparent barrier before dissipating.

“ _Merde_ ,” Christophe breathed out, stunned at the ethereal creatures before him. The remaining three cautiously emerged from their hiding spot, sucking in sharp inhales at the awaiting opponents.

Bluish-green scales glittered beguiling; the long, elegant serpentine body loosely coiled. Two navy pearls wrapped around each lazily flicking tail, the third resting snugly on the neck. A short ivory horn perched on the head, framed by white wings. Two pairs of soulless pits of eyes stared at the stupefied humans, watching with a predatory gaze – waiting.

 _Dragons_ , Yuuri’s nerves sang with the instinctual revelation. He felt himself being scrutinized, his soul bared for the picking, as his cinnamon orbs locked with black beady eyes.

Faintly, he picked up the rapid and harsh tapping of fingers on screen from behind, dimly realizing that he should probably do the same. Soft hisses slithered around him as his companions opened their PokeGo to search for the mythical creatures in the database.

“ _Dragonair._ ”


	5. Chapter 5

Their name was breathed out in reverence, nothing more than a soft expel of wind, quickly carried away to nothingness. Yet the awe remained – simultaneously terrifying and exhilarating.

The standoff between both sides was still, the air pregnant with tense anticipation and nerves. And the battle resumed in earnest when a flick of the dragonair’s tail summoned a small hurricane – to test the waters, hurtling it towards them.

The Twister was unceremoniously sent back with a wave of Psychic, forcing the two dragons to part temporarily as it rushed into the walls behind, forming yet another gaping hole in the museum. Jets of powered Hydro Pumps, Ice Shards and Icicle Spears flung out, propelled by Gust from pidgeots, only to slam harmlessly into an erected Protect screen. The force of the unrelenting strikes pushed through, causing the shield to crack under pressure, eventually giving way and fracturing completely.

Twin Flamethrowers streamed out from the dragonair’s horns, melting the ice particles and evaporating the water jets with their sheer heat. Steam curled upwards, a sharp contrast to the freezing night air.

Charizard unleashed its own Flamethrower, the force of it pushing back against dragonairs’. With a burst of Hurricane from the pidgeots, charizard’s stream of fire expanded, turning into a swirling, fiery tornado that swallowed dragonairs’ own flamethrower and careened into them. A hastily constructed Protect saved the two dragons from the brunt of the attack, although it had immediately collapsed under the weight of it, leaving them fallen and charred.

A rush of Hydro Pump flew straight towards them in seconds, sparking dangerously when the second dragonair loaded the already-deadly move with a Thunderbolt. Shields popped up at the last second, creaking under the combined attack. The humans were lucky to have gotten away unscathed, except for the tingling that ran through their electrified nerves. Some of the Pokémon, however, fared worse, having been more susceptible to the electricity hovering in the air.

By the time the hydro pump cleared, the dewgongs were bleeding fiercely, as were the laprases. They had managed to escape a certain, swift death by throwing up ice shields for themselves. Shields that slowly crumbled as the last of their energy drained away.

Taking advantage of the chaos they had just wrecked, the two dragons swooped down towards charizard, one of them curling tightly around charizard in a tight Wrap. The other fended off the other water and psychic attacks from the conflagration of vaporeons, glaceons, starmie and espeon. Both released Aurora Beams, keeping a sneaky umbreon away from their prey and to ward off pidgeots’ preparations for any aerial attacks.

Charizard bellowed in pain from the increasingly tightened squeeze, gearing up to spew fire. Sensing its intent, the dragonair wrapped around it looked down, nonplussed, sending a bolt of Thunderwave to stun the struggling lizard.

As charizard fought against its captor, and the remaining Pokémon distracted the other dragon, Christophe hurriedly gestured for the team to climb aboard the pidgeots. Carrying pairs of humans on its back, the pidgeots rocketed upwards, just in time to avoid streaks of Thunder that headed towards them. Thankfully, starmie and espeon were still able to erect protective shields to ward the errant bolts away.

Viktor, Yurio, Mila and Otabek flew low, urging the injured laprases and dewgongs to retreat to somewhere safe. It was there when Yuuri caught an abnormal amount of splashing from his peripheral. His head whiplashed so quickly that he stumbled off the pidgeot carrying him, earning shouts of worry.

Yuuri ignored the calls of his name, heart in his throat when he saw his other companion too close to the fire. He dived for magikarp just as an ice beam hurtled his way, causing the pidgeots to veer up and away from the danger.

The magikarp was splashing uselessly near charizard’s foot, its presence ignored by the two struggling dragons. Whispering a desperate plea to the felines holding down the fort, Yuuri set his gamble into play. The shouts from high above added to the erratic thumping of his heart, the pulse of his thrumming blood as adrenaline sharpened his gaze and coiled his muscles tight, ready to spring.

Starmie broke the lull with a well-placed Psybeam, instantly colliding with the dragonair’s instant Protect. The star-shaped Pokémon ramped up its attack with bursts of Ice Beam, the sharp edges drilling into the psychic shield. With the shield down and dragonair unable to form another immediately, starmie combined Blizzard with the vaporeons’ Hydro Pumps, a deluge of water and ice cutting into the exposed dragonair. It howled a painful song, when the frigid, razor-sharp wind cut into its soft, white belly, forcing it to curl inwards protectively.

Utilizing the distraction, Yuuri raced towards the second dragonair – and his captive charizard, a pair of glaceons flanking him. They formed a tag team with umbreon, alternating between throwing icicles to divert the dragonair’s attention away whilst umbreon struck from below with Dark Pulse and Crunch. Whenever things got too heated, espeon stood by him, erecting protective shields or redirecting energy blasts away from them with Psychic.

Spotting one of umbreon’s inflicted wounds – a bite mark near dragonair’s tail, torn through the white underside with viciousness and currently festering from the dark aura imbued, Yuuri whipped open his switchblade and struck, fast and hard and true.

The sharp blade caught onto the open wound’s edge, ripping it open as Yuuri pushed his whole weight downwards. The dragonair screamed in rage, catching the attention of its twin. Without warning, its heavy tail flew outwards and connected with Yuuri’s belly, flinging him backwards with a punishing force. He only registered a small, scaly body jumping up to his middle before being flung back like a punching bag, saved from cracking his neck by a psychic net, thrown wide by espeon.

Dazed, Yuuri tried to regain his bearing, wincing at the numb pain around his stomach. A weakly flapping pair of fin shook him out of his stupor immediately. He fretted over his savior – his magikarp, who suffered cracks in its hardy scale, but still breathing and alive.

A pinprick of flames formed on the horn of the irate dragon, growing bigger with every second. Before it could properly launch a Flamethrower, charizard, its muzzle now free from Wrap, chomped down on dragonair’s neck with Fire Fang. Black tendrils of smoke curled around the burning wound as charizard held on firmly to a writhing serpent, the latter loosening its grip on its fire-breathing dragon kin.

Echoing its twin’s howl, the second dragonair sent out a deadly medley of Flamethrower and Twister, upping the ante with Dragon Tail. Its tail glowed an eerie purple as draconic energy charged the two blue pearls, before being unleashed when the thick tail was slammed downwards, the energy rippling outwards and catching the Pokémon off guard and sent them flying back. Yuuri braced himself against the groaning wall, hugging magikarp with a tight grip, eyes squeezing closed as water and ice sprayed all over. He could hear the yowls from the evolved eevee forms, and the high-pitched screams from up above. But he couldn’t escape from the torrent that drenched him until it stopped.

Yuuri’s eyes peeked open warily, capturing an exhausted charizard still standing and glaring at the dragonairs. The smaller creatures were flung backwards, landing in a dazed but still breathing pile. Espeon stood in front of them protectively, having cast multiple layers of barriers. Starmie stood beside it, barely able to keep it together after the whole ordeal.

Relieved that they were alright, Yuuri dived straight into a nest of stupid decisions; he wobbled to his feet and marched resolutely forward to join the lone Pokémon facing off the dragons. From their perches, Viktor was screaming himself hoarse with dread at his stupidly brave lover. He had tried to urge his pidgeot to swoop down and grab Yuuri more than once, alongside Yurio, but Christophe held them back. He wasn’t ready to see his friends sacrifice themselves in a blindly idiotic manoeuvre which he could have prevented. Loyal to their owner, the pidgeots kept aloft, turning into mere spectators in the final, decisive battle.

“You fucking moron! Do you even know what you’re doing?! If you had two charizards, then fine! But you have a fucking magikarp who can’t do anything but fucking splash around! You’d better pray hard that it’s going to turn into another fucking dragon cause this Chris is cockblocking us from rescuing you! Chris, let us go and help him already god fucking damn it!” The vitriol that erupted from Yurio wasn’t pretty, the angry words coated liberally with his brand of worry. He even shook off Otabek’s placating touch, too fired up to calm himself down.

Impatient, charizard roared a defiant challenge, spewing out a massive Fire Blast in the next breath. The heat scorched the walls and bubbled the cold waters, sizzling as it met head-on with twin streaks of Ice Beam and Aqua Jet. The moves returned by dragonair weren’t impressive or sufficient to withstand and push back the force of a fire blast, Yuuri thought in suspicion.

Heart wrenching fear blossomed within him, a living thing that twisted and gnawed at his guts when he saw the same purplish, draconic energy coating the entirety of the two dragons’ serpentine bodies. Their once pitch-black eyes clouded over, covered with a clear white coat that signalled impending insanity.

The first leaned and rocketed forward, tackling straight into charizard with the force of a Dragon Rush. Charizard managed to grab the dragonair instead of being impaled by the ivory horn, though it was pushed backwards from the powered up move, leathery wings stretched out and flapping to maintain balance. With the distance moved by charizard as it tugged against dragonair, they had landed fairly near Yuuri, who had tried to flatten himself against the wall to stay unnoticed.

The second attack came much swifter, the speed of it not even expected by the airborne audience. The dragonair that hung back flew forward, and _thrashed_. Heavy tail whipped in fast succession, leaving behind craters that grew bigger and bigger with each thump of its mighty tail. The upper body lashed out at charizard, forcing the latter to spew out warning flames in a bid to keep dragonair away.

The situation turned dire when the first dragon shook out of its stupor and began a steady rhythmic pattern of Outrage, the exact same move as its twin. Under the force of two destructive dragons, charizard hunkered itself down, coating its paws and maws with preparatory flames.

Every whip of dragonairs’ tail caught onto charizard’s hardy scales, then rebounding. The ones that struck the softer belly of charizard dug slashes across, fire-hot blood sizzling away. Charizard’s defensive scales were already cracking under the impact of each blow, thrown with the force of a dragonair’s full body weight combined with draconic powers.

Charizard roared in alarm when a stray tail swung towards an unprotected Yuuri. Charizard had its claws and maw full with one thrashing dragon, fear blooming in its black eyes when it realized the danger Yuuri was in.

As the tail descended, a harbinger of Yuuri’s quick death, he felt himself being shoved sideways. The dragon tail narrowly missed Yuuri but instead, glanced against a flopping magikarp. It lay in the waters, a few paces from Yuuri, chest rising weakly. As though aware of the pesky fish that had ruined their efforts to finish the fight, time and again, the dragon launched a second strike against the vulnerable margikarp, intent on bringing it out of the picture.

A deafening boom, a spray of water and fire, and an ear-splitting roar happened almost simultaneously, screeching and scratching at Yuuri’s very senses. A mixture of condensation, steam and dust settled into a viscous cloud around them, only the shadow outlines of each engaged Pokémon visibly but barely so.

A sudden death-drop into clear silence thundered, giving way to a bright yellow beam of light that cleaved through the grey smoke. The dark outline of a serpentine Pokémon dropped onto its watery grave, lifeless and still. Its twin sang a sweet song of mourning, beautifully haunting with each and every soulful note.

As the last note rang in the tense air, the remaining dragonair glared hatefully at its two opponents, eyes turning pitch-black once more as its powers fled its body. It launched its curled body forward with a hateful cry, intent for vengeance.

The attacks were relentless and unpredictable, a sporadic chain of Ice Beam, Dragon Breath and Dragon Pulse and Dragon Tail rained in quick succession. A burst of its final dying strength. Charizard and the new Pokémon took each attack blow for blow, retaliating with Fire Punch, Flamethrower, Hydro Pump and Aqua Tail. Under the onslaught of the two Pokémon, adding to its own waning strength, the dragonair finally collapsed, breath shuddering as it bled to a slow death with the numerous wounds inflicted on its body, most of them deep lacerations that mauled apart this stunningly otherworldly creature.

Terse silence blanketed the whole devastated area, as they waited in bated breath. Unconsciously, Yuuri slowly made his way towards the dying dragon, steps shaky but sure, guided by his tingling nerves and roiling gut. Charizard made a noise of protest when Yuuri drew closer to dragonair, but not stopping its owner.

Kneeling down beside the proud snout, Yuuri brushed the cool scales in long, sweeping strokes. His warm brown eyes met the dragon’s head-on, surprised to see a spark of stubbornness clinging on to life in those black orbs. The dragonair stared, seemingly tearing down Yuuri with its ancient gaze to disclose his inner core. A great sigh expelled from the dragon, as though having found an answer through Yuuri, the warm breath tickling his hands.

When the light in dragonair faded to nothingness, Yuuri reverently, slowly, slide its lids closed, the body already losing its innate heat to death. He stood and walked towards the twin, repeating his gesture of respect for the mythical creature.

Quiet flutters of wings and a pair of sprinting footsteps dimly registered in Yuuri. The force of the hug threatened to unbalance him, the familiar pine and ice scent of his lover a balm to his wounds.

“Don’t you ever do that again, Yuuri! Please don’t, I beg you.” Pleas and words of love and worry choked out of Viktor, conveying the rollercoaster he was put through – the helplessness that constricted his muscles; the chilling fear that seeped into his heart.

“Viktor,” Yuuri wailed into his lover’s thick parka, finally snapped out of his trance. He felt so lost, so sad, so undeserving. The myriad of emotions clattered within him as he fought to categorize them, wrestle them into submission so that he could properly analyse and understand his thoughts and feelings.

He had been high-strung on nervous tension, moving on autopilot ever since the battle started. The trepidation and fright constantly pumped through his bloodstream, enabling him to operate under a veneer of apathy. But when the dragons arrived – when they arrived, like the angels of a wrathful God, Yuuri had clammed up in disquietude. Cold dread filled his entire being at the celestial beings, at odds with the warm curiosity and respect that stirred deep in his belly. His logical side warred with his emotional side that housed his instincts. He wanted to bow at their feet, croon back their melodies. Yuuri was subconsciously drawn to them, but a different kind of attraction from his fellow men. And he mourned when the two dragons breathed their last and ascended to a newfound place.

* * *

 

“Confession time,” Yurio deadpanned. “What’s up with you and dragons?”

Yuuri didn’t deign the younger teen an answer. He didn’t quite know how to explain it as well, the thought of trying to divulge his swirling emotions causing him to be tongue-tied. But he was also intrigued by the peculiar attraction he had with dragons.

First was charizard, then the two dragonairs. Now, he had to contend with the third dragon species – his evolved magikarp. An elongated serpentine body, though its scales were infinitely larger than both charizard’s and dragonairs’. Sturdy horns rested on its head, cream coloured whiskers framing its gaping maw. The only difference between Yuuri’s Pokémon and the one depicted in his PokeGo was the colouring – the former was painted in red hues instead of the illustrated blue tinted dragon.

“A gyarados, huh,” Yuuri mumbled, absentmindedly stroking his calm dragon.

“That’s its name? Badass,” commented Yurio nonchalantly, his seal of approval for the newest addition to the team.

The two were sitting by the lake at the back of a secluded safe-house where Christophe and his company lodged in for the past week. Christophe and Emil had flown out to the house first, before his espeon and Viktor’s starmie linked up to teleport the heavyweight Pokémon. The more injured ones went along as well, the rest of the glaceons and vaporeons piling onto the pidgeots. Charizard flew Yuuri, while gyarados took the remaining humans – namely Yurio, who called dibs very early on.

The team had administered first aid as quickly as possible, clearing away possible infection and dressing the gashes. The Pokémon were then left to preen and recover, the majority of the Russian team’s slipping into the sizeable lake and drifting into a deep slumber. Charizard snoozed not too far off from the frolicking gyarados. The pidgeots had flown to a nearby forest to roost, left alone until they needed to go.

The sun had risen near the end of the battle, the glow of a promised new day unfairly taking away the spirits of the dragons. Now, it’s nearly at its peak, for the days grew shorter during the wintery months. Most of them had gone to claim a bed, or a sofa, before knocking out into a dreamless sleep.

Yuuri, however, was too keyed up and restless, the melancholic gaze of the dragonair appearing whenever he closed his own eyes. He then slipped off the shared bed, careful to not ruffle Viktor, and crept towards the lake. A few moments later, Yurio had joined him with Potya, equally quiet. The persian took the chance to stretch its limbs, laying down to sunbathe with a contented purr.

The silence was companionable, almost enjoyable. A rather uncommon phenomenon when Yurio is present, as the teenager would oftentimes be caught in a squabble with Mila, who loved to tease him for his entertaining reactions. But now, Yuuri could feel himself getting cleansed by the clean countryside air, his mind slowly settling and his emotions less jumbled than before.

They would uncover whatever nefarious plot that had Pokémon pitted against them, even at the expense of dragons, after a good rest.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Last scene beautifully drawn by Rei - [see her tumblr here](http://rei-drome.tumblr.com/post/171106998615/a-moment-of-contemplation-in-the-aftermath-of-a)!


	6. Chapter 6

“Viktor, what the fuck?!”

“What do you mean by you’re leaving, Viktor?”

Cries of concern and confusion chorused immediately after Viktor announced his plan. The rage trembling in Yurio palpable, as well as the violence brimming his teal eyes. Viktor merely shushed their dissents, staying firm to his decision and motioning for the next discussion phase to begin.

They had read the sodden reports and articles, now dried and a tad wrinkly from ninetails’ and charizard’s fire. They had read them, and they didn’t like the implications of the written words at all.

They had managed to puzzle the bits and pieces of mismatched information to uncover a sketch of a past experiment that had gone horribly wrong, and the next steps that the unknown perpetrators were going to take. The notes also mentioned about the existence of dragons being real, and their success in hatching and evolving those two dragonairs after decades of research.

It was a devastating miracle that several of the scientists stumbled upon the aftermath of a ferocious fight, a lone and badly injured female dragonair curling around its nest protectively.

Eager to uncover the secrets it was protecting, they had sacrificed their own people and Pokémon to face off the enraged dragon, its body eventually weakening under the assault. They managed to put their grubby hands on the exposed eggs and brought those eggs and the dead dragonair back to their lair, the latter subjected to the various tests and machinations that the scientists cooked up.

The researchers had scribbled down the number of successful hatches – three others, which went by the name of Dratini. And they worked tirelessly to breed more of these dragons, an implied greed to control a host of them. All these years of speculation turned real had the researchers jumping in joy as they sought to fill up the database in PokeGo.

That then led to another entry of sightings, glimpses really, of majestic birds that never lingered, always flying off in search for something. Their unlikeness to any of the other Pokémon encouraged the scientists to categorize them differently, believing that they belong to a separate classification and breed altogether. And even from miles away, their majestic prowess could be felt brushing against their flesh.

There were three in total, so far. The first left chills down their spines, while the second sent tingles across the nerves, whereas the third left the taste of ash and smoke in dry mouths. And so, they were reverently bestowed the name the Triumvirate – birds that held the elements in the absolute, purest and rawest form.

The last sheets of notes detailed conjectures about the habitats of the three, guessing that they would return to roost at their preferred climates. Labels were pencilled out on a crudely-drawn map, circles to signify the narrowed down choices.

The extreme north and south were immediately on the list, the perfect conditions for a bird of the ice to live in. The second cluster of circle primarily focused on an island too far away, with a note labelled “volcanoes” beside them. The third was in the middle of a landlocked area, suspiciously near Yuuri’s homeland, based on his foggy memories of his younger days when the Elders drew maps on the ground to impart their knowledge to the younger generation.

Viktor had taken a look at the map, his frighteningly quick mind digesting and assimilating the barrage of information that bode of ill intent. His pale face turned a shade whiter, countless emotions flitting through his hardened, icy orbs. It was then when he announced his decision to separate from the group while urging them to check out the third cluster of circles since it was pretty near their current location.

“The first is nearer to our location, you dumbass!” Yurio all but yelled, unable to comprehend Viktor’s thoughts.

“The first is out of bounds,” Viktor snapped abruptly, causing the others to jump.

“But you’re going there, aren’t you? You’re going there, _by yourself_ , because you think it’s too dangerous and we shouldn’t be put in danger. But you’re the only one who gets the free pass, to go off on an adventure on your own, _without backup_.” Tempers flared at Yurio’s tirade, the rest of them remaining quiet and sinking into the background.

“Yura, please. No one else should be going there with me.” Viktor rubbed the bridge of his nose, willing some sense to enter his cousin’s head.

“If no one goes with you, you’re guaranteed to be dead man.” Yuuri flinched at that loud proclamation.

“One dead man is better than ten.”

“Tell that to the pig, you shitface!” Viktor was unable to face Yuuri, his jaws clenched stubbornly as he glared at his cousin. Yurio had struck deep into unwarranted territory, explicitly dragging Yuuri into the fray.

“Yura, I have to do this.”

“It’s a death trap.”

“ _I know_.”

Unable to come up with another retort to budge his maddening cousin, Yurio resorted to spitting out a threat. “If you wind up dead, I will find your ghost and laugh in your face and say, ‘I told you so.’ Then I’ll find a way to resurrect you and kill you at least fifty times over, each time more painful than the last.”

The ensuing tense silence was palpable, Christophe eventually caving in and clearing his throat to start the discussion anew.

* * *

 

 

“You won’t change your mind, not even if I’m the one who asks,” Yuuri murmured into Viktor’s bare shoulder.

“No, and I’m not sorry about that, solnyshko” Viktor whispered back.

“You’ll be safe?” Yuuri’s question was nearly drowned out by the showerhead. Viktor pressed reassuring kisses on his head in response. “As I always will be.”

“Come back to me, once you’re done.”

“I will, and I’ll stay by your side, lyubov moya.” A hard kiss from Viktor to Yuuri, their lips slotting together seamlessly, sealed his promise to his lover.

 

 

Viktor left the encampment bright and early, tossing solemn nods and sharing firm hugs with his comrades. Yuuri had made his farewells clear during their night of mutual passion, the red marks he’d made with his sinful lips peppering Viktor’s pale skin though hidden beneath the knitted navy sweater.

When Viktor finally turned towards Yuuri, the last of the group waiting to send him off, the former crushed his lover to his chest, embracing him with an unrelenting grip. Yuuri returned the favour, burying his face into the crook of Viktor’s neck, trying his damndest to imprint his scent on Viktor while soaking in the heady cocktail of pine and snow exuded from the silverette.

Yuuri nuzzled closely, mouth parting and licking short stripes across Viktor’s pulse point, alternating between warm suckling and kitten bites. All the while, Viktor trembled in his embrace, long silver locks shading his flushed face, barely perceptible moans tickling the shell of Yuuri’s ear.

“Will you two stop being so gross all the damn time?!” An irate Yurio cut through Viktor’s lust-fogged mind.

Gently prying Yuuri’s mouth away from his neck, eliciting an unhappy whine from both of them, Viktor threw a smirk behind his shoulders, aiming right at the blond teenager. And then proceeded to cup Yuuri’s face and devour his lips without mercy. Christophe’s boisterous laughter at Viktor’s retort drowned out the embarrassed shuffles as the younger members hastily fled from the increasingly heated room.

As the kiss finally slowed to a breathy stop, lingering swipes of tongue for a final taste of swollen, red lips, Yuuri sealed their lips once more, sweetly, gently, then two affectionate kisses on Viktor’s soft cheeks. Viktor reciprocated, each kiss punctuated with a fervent murmur, “I love you.”

“I love you too, Viktor,” Yuuri returned with a watery grin. “But if you don’t go now, you’ll never make it out of this cottage.”

With a final peck and hug, Viktor strode out of the safe-house and sailed back to the north with a lapras and a pair of dewgongs.

Forlorn cinnamon eyes hardened when his lover’s silhouette disappeared from the windows, gone flat with urgency and grimness as they, too, began their part of the mission.

* * *

 

 

“We should either surf or fly down,” Yurio suggested, fingers tapping against the map. The youngest member had been uncharacteristically less prickly and more subdued after the departure of his cousin, as though an ice beam had frozen his emotionality and numbed his core. The others had given him space. The only one who had stuck by him was faithful Otabek, keeping young Yurio company.

Christophe and Yuuri hummed noncommittally. They both agreed with him, that flying or surfing was significantly faster than trudging through miles and miles of land. However, that left the problem of transporting the larger Pokémons – their rhyhorns and ninetails and persian would have to traverse the lands and forests for they could not fit on any of the laprases or pidgeots.

It was during the conundrum when a budding idea sparked in Yuuri’s mind.

“Chris, if we link up Espeon and Starmie, they should be able to transport us and any Pokémon via Teleport.”

“Theoretically, it should work…” Christophe mulled over the idea – it was brilliant, really, but the fact of it being untested remained.

As though picking up his thoughts, Yuuri suggested for a trial. If that worked, they could experiment on the psychic range of the two Pokémon.

The results had been satisfying: the two psychics were able to continuously transport humans and Pokémons for an hour over a range of thirty to forty kilometres with each jump. Thereafter, they sagged in exhaustion, needing to rest for the next few hours before they were fully recharged.

With the trial deemed successful, the route was put into motion. Mila and Otabek were in charge of their water steeds, surfing down to the southern continents through the open waters. On the other hand, the twins and Emil took to the skies with their pidgeots, and Yuuri flew beside them with Charizard, acting as their aerial scouts.

Christophe and Yurio rode on ninetails and persian respectively. The smaller Pokémons were scattered along the massive length of the gentle gyarados, or perched atop the two rhyhorns. Some of the vaporeons and glaceons opted to swim through the cooler open waters, climbing onto the horned backs of the sturdy laprases when tired out.

Double and triple checking that their safehouse was left bare, with all signs of habitation extinguished, they set off as one unit, racing through the land, skies and seas.

When the larger Pokémon started showing signs of fatigue near midday, each group stopped for a quick break and meal. Then the psychics took over for the next hour. It was a physically and mentally gruelling task pushed onto the only two psychic Pokémons in the whole team, having to transport almost a dozen large Pokémons and humans across land and seas.

It was with this arduous mode of transportation regime that continued for the next couple of weeks, the team barely able to catch their breath before resuming their breakneck pace down south.

Barren lands soon turned to lush undergrowth and towering trees that spread high and wide above their heads. Flocks of pidgeys and spearows roosting overhead, squawking and chittering in a cacophonous birdsong. The dry air grew wet and humid, perspiration clinging onto warm skin incessantly. Buzzing insects flying past them ever so often, inciting a snarling Yurio by the end of the first day as he swatted away an irritating mosquito for the nth time that evening.

The group on land were still trudging through the overgrown forest when an ominous rumble rippled through the air. Goosebumps raised on each of them. The Pokémon tensing in sudden alertness, ears pricked forward, and fangs bared.

“We should take cover, seems like a nasty storm is brewing. The Pokémon are getting too agitated as well,” Christophe suggested. The tension rolling off their partners had them on edge as well.

Before any of them could move, streaks of lightning raced through the open, and slowly darkening, sky. Eliciting growls and yips of warning from the high-strung Pokémon. They’d barely disappeared before a howl ripped through the air. A blast of hot wind rippled across the forest, causing the leaves to smoke.

“Storm eh,” Yurio muttered sarcastically, muscles bunched and ready to pounce at the next provocation.

“Might be worth to take a look,” Yuuri ventured warily. “To know what to expect rather than take cover and be sitting ducks.”

With nods of assents, the group set forth, treading across the sizzling, muddy ground with an unnerving silence. The pidgeots flew low, sending back shrill shrieks when the coast was clear.

The closer they were to the core of the heat and lightning, the stronger the smell of ashes and ozone. Angry shrieking drowned out by whistling lightning bolts and hissing flames, sending tingles down the length of their bodies.

A nasty bolt of lightning tore through the sky, missing the group by a scant few meters – thanks to the quick teleportation by espeon. This time, a blast of freezing wind volleyed back, ice crystals immediately forming on every surface in its wake.

Yurio’s eyes widened in recognition, body sprinting towards the source of it without warning, Potya bounding after him.

“Shit,” Christophe and Yuuri swore. “After him!”

The remaining members sprinted and flew at breakneck speed, just catching up to an excited Yurio when they exited the lush forest. Only to be greeted by a streak of lightning zig-zagging towards them. Espeon was barely able to erect a protective shield when the lightning bolt crashed head-on with a block of solid ice that seemed to spring forth from beneath their feet. The ice structure shattered upon impact, chunks of debris harmlessly bouncing off espeon’s psychic shield.

It was a magnificent and terrifying sight to behold, beyond the protection of the forest looming behind them. The foliage having thinned out to present a dilapidated once-dome-shaped building, the ceiling no longer there – either having caved in or ripped out. Its grey walls slowly overrun by vines that crept and leeched on mercilessly. Yet despite itself getting strangled with creepers, its whole being buzzed with life. It _glowed_ with life, yet exuded the chill of death.

Shrieks of indignation rattled the skies, a culmination of heat, cold and tingling electricity tore their attention away to the behemoth, ethereal creatures battling above them.

A heavenly bird of glittering blue sending streaks of frigid ice beams through the grey, cloudy sky. Aided by a bird of flames that spun white-hot tornadoes, cornering their prey into the fiery walls – a bright yellow bird screeching in indignation, electricity sparking off its body.

The Triumvirate.

The legendary trio, recorded in their stolen laboratory reports as mythical, but are very much real and alive, battling out in the skies right before their eyes.

Yuuri and his team were forced to scatter when more lightning bolts were generated, plummeting down to the earth without mercy. Charizard banked to its left, hard enough that Yuuri had to clench his teeth against the force, and emerged from the tree tops. Beady eyes scanned the horizon for danger. Nearby, gyarados emerged, having deposited its smaller Pokémon passengers back in the forest.

The pair of dragons stayed aloft, creating shields of fire and water as their companions down below ran for safety.

“Yuuri!” A hoarse shout rang out, the voice ripped away by the gusts of wind whipped up from the intense aerial fight. “You need to get down to the power plant! Quickly!”

Yuuri urged his two companions down to where the decrepit building stood, intent on entering through the massive hole that was once the domed ceiling. But before he could enter, a beam of sizzling purple energy blasted through, forcing Charizard to veer off-course with a roar of surprise. A second beam followed almost immediately, to which gyarados fired back an orange hyper beam in response. Earning howls of shock and pain from their hidden enemies and further crumbling parts of the building into dust.

Christophe, Yurio and their team of Pokémon charged into the fray, blasting open the heavy doors with their combined might. In the distance, a melodious yet soulful cry rang out, followed by thick spikes of ice hurtling through the air and into the nuclear power plant. From high above, Yuuri could make out the water steeds and the trademark bright red hair of Mila as she perched on the lead lapras.

Thankful that Mila and Otabek arrived without trouble, Yuuri dug his heel into charizard’s thick hide, urging him to lend a hand to his comrades. Charizard unleashed a powerful flamethrower, clearing the debris-filled path leading into the power plant. Gyarados followed suit with a mighty dragon’s breath.

More energy blasts from the enemy’s rank ripped through the air, clashing fiercely with the mighty hails and scorching flames summoned by Articuno and Moltres. The two legendaries screeched in righteous anger, while their third counterpart stood firmly against them. Black beady eyes unfocused as it let loose more bolts of electricity. Articuno and Moltres steered swiftly away from the deadly bolts.

Giving Zapdos a clear, straight line of fire towards an airborne Yuuri.

Sensing an easier prey, Zapdos let out an ear-splitting cry, tucking its wings in and spiralled towards Yuuri. Charizard and gyarados roared in alarm and warning, broad leathery wings moving rapidly to ascend to the skies. A mix of flamethrower, water and dragon pulse hurtled towards the speeding yellow bird.

Yuuri clenched his teeth, tucking his head in as he let Charizard take control. His gut dropped and twisted with every sudden veer and descent as Charizard tried to shake the monstrous bird off. Gyarados stayed faithfully at their side, shielding the two whilst rapidly firing off hyper beams and dragon pulse.

The three neared the open sea, when gyarados pulled and sent a barrage of water to thwart their pursuer. More columns of water and ice followed behind, created by the dewgongs and laprases under Mila’s command.

Zapdos slowed down and started to glow. The crackling of electricity across its body palpable to Yuuri, his hair standing on end.

A screech cut through the suddenly still air, pulling up waves of seawater to form thick sheets of ice. Whitish-blue ice that shuddered and strained under the onslaught of a lethal Thunder. From behind, Moltres generated a handful of deadly, fiery hurricanes and sent them towards Zapdos, forcing it off course.

“Yuuri! Are you okay?!”

A distinct, familiar voice rang out in worry. A voice that etched right into Yuuri’s heart and bones. A voice that Yuuri never thought he would hear again anytime soon.

“Viktor?” Yuuri muttered softly in disbelief. His head whipped up, scanning the skies in desperation.

His beloved’s dulcet voice shouted out again, this time from behind. “Yuuri!”

Yuuri craned his neck backwards, and almost slipped off his perch on Charizard in utter shock.

Viktor was right there. Right in front of him. Wearied but alive and whole.

And also perched atop Articuno. Its regal head swivelling slightly to give an assessing side eye towards Yuuri and his two dragons.

Yuuri instinctively wanted to cow under its imperious stare. But a burning sensation stirred deep in his belly, yawning awake and slithered through his veins. Warming him up. Straightening his posture, as he tilted his head to meet Articuno’s stare head-on, self-assured.

Then he bowed respectfully. Never once breaking eye contact with the majestic beast.

The air stilled around the pair, as if letting silent judgment pass through it. Even Charizard and gyarados hushed, heads having instinctively bowed down in submission to the legendary before them.

Articuno turned its head completely towards Yuuri, its laser sharp attention weighing heavily upon Yuuri’s shoulders. Its gaze cold and assessing.

Articuno tilted its proud head down, a nod of assent of sorts. Before Viktor and Yuuri could process its actions, Articuno whirled towards the furious battle between Moltres and Zapdos. With a powerful beat of its icy blue wings, Articuno soared towards them. Yuuri could barely catch the tail end of Viktor’s shout of, “He loves you! Don’t worry about it!”

* * *

It was utter chaos down below. How the power plant was still standing baffled Yuuri, as it suffered through endless attacks from both sides. Unrelenting elemental powers crackled and shot through each crevice, trying to break into the ranks of the enemy.

Yuuri spotted Christophe and his faithful felines erecting protective shields while blasting psychic and dark energy at a group of electrodes and exeggutors who looked ready to detonate at any moment. Yurio was in another corner, with Potya slashing and biting through the horde of victreebels clustering near a darkened entrance. Michele and the twins were airborne, fending off the enemy’s various fearows and pidgeots with equally intense air cutters.

There was another unknown group battling the enemies. Flamethrowers and vine whips keeping the water Pokémon at bay, while the rhyhorns and arcanine charged at another cluster of raticates and arboks.

Not so far off in the distance, Mila and Otabek were engaged in a water and ice battle. The sea was agitated, its waves rocking and crashing into each other violently. Then waves turned to deadly icicles, hurled with lethal precision, with some taking out the land and flying Pokémon that strayed too near the coast.

With land, air and seas occupied with battling Pokémon, Yuuri hesitated. He looked towards where the three giants were duelling it out, then thought better of it. Viktor may be in the thick of the deadliest fights, but he was in the presence of a legendary. A titan who acknowledged Yuuri, and whom Yuuri could trust to keep his beloved safe.

The sea suddenly rumbled and frothed ominously, the currents turning violent and uncontrollable. The water steeds cried in surprise at the sudden turn of events, hurriedly swimming away from the epicentre of a quickly forming whirlpool. The slower ones were unfortunate, flailing in vain as they got sucked into the massive whirlpool.

An eerie howl resounded, a silver horn piercing through the whirlpool. Long and serpentine body, covered with brilliantly sparkling azure scales, slithered from the churning waters and took to the skies. The cerulean pearls hugging its necks and tails glowing a mystical blue.

Brackish-grey thunder clouds started to roll in, darkening the once bright sky. The echoes of the beginning of a storm reverberated, in tandem with the sudden sparks generated by Zapdos. The winds picked up, whistling and howling, sharp enough to cut through unprotected flesh. The temperature dropped, and the cold bit into the skin, harsh and unforgiving.

Dragonair. Although this time, its dark orbs were much more intelligent, much more cunning than the fallen pair from weeks back. Its body much longer and hardened. Older. A fully mature, adult dragonair that held control over the elements with perfect ease.

With a soulful cry, lightning bolts flickered, and hail stones were flung towards Yuuri and his companions. Gyarados created a large Protect, while Charizard let loose a stream of flames that melted the hails that were pelted their way.

Zapdos entered the fray, unleashing limitless streaks of Thunderbolts and an occasional Thunder. Merciless in its assault. Moltres followed suit, taking advantage of the strong winds to spread its flames even further. The hail stones that were once pelting towards Yuuri and the power plants slowed as Articuno sent a barrage of Hail and Icy Wind back to the dragonair.

It was a mighty battle that remained at a stalemate. With one side on the defence and trying to minimise damage while the other being unrelenting in its assault. The Zapdos and dragonair tag team was dangerously powerful enough to hold their ground against the two titans, deterring the rest from straying too close to their battle.

Now, they were preternaturally still. As though they were waiting.

A rumble reverberated through the seas and air. Not from any of the Pokémon present, but from deep within the belly of the maelstrom that kept growing and growing. A terrifying roar had the waters parting, its raw viciousness sending chills down every person’s spines. Dragonair responded in kind.

Yuuri’s blood bubbled and boiled in reaction to the two roars, instinctively drawn to them. As though he understood them, and his blood yearned to be with them. As though sensing his feelings, Charizard and gyarados sent their own roars – challenging and defiant.

A gigantic dragon emerged from the very depths of the whirlpool. Not a dragonair – no. This was a pale orange dragon, its long feelers sensing the air. All four of its limbs adorned with sharp, curved claws. Its leathery wings beat once, twice; propelling its weighty body to where Zapdos and dragonair waited.

Yuuri’s phone started to beep incessantly.

“Mission’s a success! Retreat!”

A loud holler pierced through the skies. Yuuri turned around just to see a pair of men in black protective suit on fearows hurtling past him. Michele, Sara and Emil were hot on their heels, but were forced to stop their pursuit when Zapdos and dragonair sent lightning bolts slashing through the air in a clear warning.

Instinctively, Yuuri started to give chase at their retreating forms, Articuno and Moltres doing the same. But the enemies were quick to dissuade them with powerful Thunder and Hyperbeams that rattled the skies and shook the earth. A few hit too close to home, striking down any of the pidgeots that tried to follow. Gyarados sent back its own hyperbeams, not as strong as but still able to deflect them.

The orange dragon’s cream belly started to glow an incandescent orange, its proud head tilting upwards. Its maw opened to fire the sphere of bright orange energy into the sky. The sphere exploded into smaller ones, raining down rapidly but no less deadly. A meteor shower of draconic energy.

The winds whipped up once again, a colossal hurricane forming at the behest of dragonair. Before it was sent hurling towards them, Zapdos charged it with deadly electrical currents. Forcing them to give up their pursuit.

With a last cry, the three giants took off, followed by an aerial legion of fearows.

Dragonite.

The one sketched in the laboratory reports, pondered upon its existence.

The last dragon the scientists were searching for maniacally.

It was as real as the Triumvirate, and as ferocious as any of them.

And it was now gone. The last two mythical dragons and Zapdos disappeared into the horizon.

Yuuri’s blood churned, pulling his being towards their retreating backs – unsettled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end of Kairos (pt 1?)!
> 
> Liked it? Want more? Click on the comment button to let me know how you felt!

**Author's Note:**

> A huge thank you to Rei ([tumblr](http://rei-drome.tumblr.com/post/171106998615/a-moment-of-contemplation-in-the-aftermath-of-a)) and Lydia (tumblr) for their lovely lovely art pieces! 
> 
> You can find my [other works here](http://archiveofourown.org/users/JunKisho)
> 
> Otherwise, come look for me on [tumblr](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/kiryouya) :)


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